This Debt I Owe
by bcain17
Summary: Harry Potter owes a debt to Narcissa Malfoy. When she requests the unthinkable, will Harry be able to give up his daughter's freedom? Lily and Scorpius must live with the repercussions of the deal. Can they survive the path chosen for them? Next Gen. fic.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful JK Rowling owns all and only lets me use the names of her characters. **

**July 2009**

Harry Potter owed the Malfoy family a debt.

Narcissa Malfoy had saved Harry Potter's life during the Final Battle and for that he owed her. She hadn't collected on it during the trial. She hadn't tried to save her husband from an untimely kiss in Azkaban. Her only son had been found innocent of all charges against him with the work of a brilliant lawyer who managed to get Draco off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

But it was a different time now. Narcissa Malfoy decided it was time to act on the debt. Putting down her newspaper, she calmly walked over to the floo to make a call.

Ten years had passed since she last talked to the savior of the wizarding world. After calling the Auror Department, she made an appointment to meet with Mr. Potter later that afternoon. She was told that Harry and Ginny Potter were celebrating the first birthday of their youngest child, Lily Luna with family in Diagon Alley. He would be back in later that afternoon.

Narcissa calmly waited for her afternoon appointment. Her grandson, Scorpius, had come to spend some time with her while his parents were at their respective jobs. After the war, Draco had taken over the family business. His wife, Astoria, formerly known as Astoria Greengrass, was a writer for Witch Weekly. She only worked three afternoons a week. While she was away, three-year-old Scorpius would come stay with his grandmother.

Scorpius was a delightful boy who was so different from his father. He had a certain joy about him that Draco hadn't possessed as a young child but Draco was determined not to make the same mistakes his father made.

At precisely 3 o'clock, Draco flooed through to pick up his son.

"Hello Mother," He greeted her as Scorpius ran into his father's waiting arms. "I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"No grandson of mine is ever trouble. When are you and Astoria going to give me another grandbaby to love?" She asked, patting Draco's arm and giving the squirming Scorpius a kiss on the cheek.

"Mother, please don't get started on that again. Please be happy with Scorpius for now," Draco whined.

"Fine, Darling, now I must be meeting Harry Potter so I will see you later."

With a wave, she was through the floo and shouting, "Ministry of Magic," leaving behind a confused Draco and smiling Scorpius.

****Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement***

"Mr. Potter, your 3:30 appointment is here," his secretary buzzed.

"Send them in, thanks," He replied, looking through a case file that he had received that morning. He was so distracted by the file he didn't see the person come in until they were sitting in the chair across from him. Looking up, he gasped.

"Mrs. Malfoy, why are you here?"

"Mr. Potter, I am sure you are aware of the life debt you owe my family?" Narcissa asked. She wasn't there for pleasantries. She was there to get down to business.

Harry scrutinized the older woman, trying to figure out her angle. "Of course I remember. I'm surprised you haven't collected on it yet. I thought you would save the former Mr. Malfoy," Harry replied, unable to say the name of the man who had almost killed his wife in her first year.

Narcissa stiffened in her seat. "Lucius," she paused as Harry flinched at the name, "was not the same man I married. His love and devotion to the Dark Lord overtook his love for me. At the end, we were living separately. I had no desire to save him from his fate. He nearly had my son killed. I'm glad he got what was coming to him."

Sitting back in his desk chair, Harry a little stunned at her words. "So what do you want from me after all these years?"

It had indeed been 11 years since Narcissa had saved his life.

Her hands folded in her lap, back straight, eyes blank, she stated, "I want your daughter to marry my grandson, Scorpius."

"No!" Harry all but shouted at the daft witch.

"No is not an acceptable answer, Mr. Potter. I am collecting on this debt when Lily Luna Potter marries Scorpius Malfoy before his 25th birthday. If she fails to marry him, well, you know what will happen," Narcissa trailed off.

Harry paled at the thought of his daughter being forced to marry someone. Of course, he knew what happened to those who failed to pay life debts.

All he could ask was "Why?"

"Because I want the Malfoy name restored to its former glory. What is used to mean before Lucius tarnished it. Scorpius marrying Lily would be the ultimate showing on how far the Malfoy's have some since the end of the war."

"So you would force these two innocent children together, binding them into a loveless marriage. That's sick," Harry spat at her.

"One more condition, Mr. Potter," Narcissa continued on, ignoring his last statement. "No one else is to know about this. You may have the option to tell Lily once she has graduated from Hogwarts but I leave that to your discretion."

"She's a squib," Harry blurted out.

Narcissa tsked. "Come now, Mr. Potter, we call know that is a bold faced lie. I am not a woman to be trifled with. Your daughter is no more a squib than my son was a Hufflepuff."

Realizing there was no other way out of this situation, Harry Potter reigned himself to the fact that his only daughter would become a Malfoy.

"It will be done," He whispered, sealing the debt and throwing away his daughters freedom to love in four simple words.

"I am most pleased you came to your sense, Mr. Potter. I look forward to speaking to you in the future. Don't forget about this little deal and remember to tell no one," Narcissa warned.

With a graceful movement, she was standing and walking towards the door. Before Harry could regain his sense, Narcissa Malfoy was gone.

Resting his head in the hands, Harry looked at the picture of his one year old daughter and whispered, "I am so sorry, Lily Luna. I hope one day you will be able to forgive me."

**AN: So what did you think? I was a little wary about posting this so let me know what you think! It's going to be a Scorpius-Lily story with a delicious dose of other characters**


	2. Chapter 1 Scorpius

This Debt I Owe Chapter 2

Scorpius Malfoy was in love.

Just one year out of Hogwarts, he had fallen in love with a vivacious witch. She was beautiful, soft spoken, and demure and he adored her. She was two years younger than him at Hogwarts and a Gryffindor but he didn't care. His family, on the other hand, was undecided about the girl. Draco and Astoria Malfoy like the chit but Narcissa Malfoy hated her with a passion and made her feelings known on a regular occasion. Even on her deathbed, Narcissa had begged her only grandchild to find someone else.

Narcissa Malfoy had lived a long life. She had finally succumbed to sickness at the age of 73 and by that time, her body was too weak to fight it off. The years she had spent under the tyranny of the Dark Lord had taken its toll and her body had never fully recovered. Two weeks had passed since she was laid to rest on the Malfoy estate. Today was the reading of her will and Draco had demanded that Scorpius be there.

Scorpius had been living in his own flat in Diagon Alley and rather enjoyed living by himself. His roommate had a similar mindset and attitude. Albus Potter had befriended Scorpius that first day on the train so many years ago despite his uncle's warning. The two had been sorted into Slytherin together and had been thick as thieves ever since. Albus, or Al for short, waiting for Scorpius to realize that the girl of his dreams was not as good as she seemed. It was unlike Al to butt into his best mate's business but when his best mate was dating someone who was only using him, Al felt the need to step in and make his opinion known. And he did, quite often. But to no avail, Scorpius continued to fall more and more in love with his girlfriend despite Al's best efforts.

Scorpius floo'd to the manor just as Al was getting ready to lecture about his girlfriend's flaws. He could be bloody irritating at times but Scorpius knew his friend had good intentions. Albus had inherited his father's hero complex and felt the need to smooth out situations and help people from getting hurt. But all it did was make Al in trouble. The lifestyle of leaping before looking was not a safe one and Al had been burned many times in the past.

Draco was waiting for his son in the living room. Years of etiquette guaranteed that his son would floo in exactly on time because a Malfoy could never be late without cause. So he watched his son, stumble gracefully into the room at precisely 1 o'clock.

"Hello, Son. How have you been?" Draco asked, moving to give his son a welcoming clap on the back.

Scorpius shrugged off the touch and rolled his eyes. "Fine, Father. Business is beginning to pick up again and I've just begun contract negotiations with a muggle electronic company," Scorpius responded to the question as Draco led him out of the room. He matched his father's purposeful strides without trouble.

Some would say that Scorpius was a miniature Draco but Scorpius wasn't sold on that assumption. Sure, he had inherited the Malfoy blond hair and slim, yet strong build but that is where the comparisons stopped. Scorpius had inherited his mother's sharp features and electric blue eyes. Draco's hair was worn a bit longer than popular in the wizarding world while Scorpius had shorn locks that looked like someone had run their fingers through his hair. His grandmother had once commented on his "sex hair" then proceeded to lecture him out the merits of protection charms.

The duo quickly reached the study, both lost in their own thoughts. Draco opened the door to reveal Astoria Malfoy nee Greengrass and their wizarding solicitor.

"Scorpius, darling, you mustn't stay away for so long. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you around here," Astoria cooed as she hugged her only child close. '

"What are you on about, Tori? He was here not three days ago for dinner. Don't be so mellow dramatic," Draco drawled at his wife with the classic Malfoy smirk residing on his face.

Glaring at her husband, Astoria snapped, "If you hadn't given him that foolish notion that a boy needs to live on his own then we wouldn't have this problem, Draco."

"Bloody hell," Scorpius muttered, a statement he picked up from Al's uncle Ron. "She still hasn't gotten over that yet? It's been three months already."

Draco chuckled as his wife's ire turned to his son. "Don't you 'bloody hell' me, Scorpius Malfoy. You are my only son and I want you here at the Manor with me."

"Mother, you can be so demanding at times. How father puts up with you, I'll never understand. But no, I will not move back in here anytime soon. So go adopt a kneazle or something if you need attention. Father must be lacking in that department, eh?" Scorpius smirked at his father who was glaring daggers at him. It was a well-known fact that Draco Malfoy hated cats or anything related to a cat.

"I can guarantee I have not left your mother unsatisfied 'in that department' as you so eloquently put it. In fact, you may be expecting a sibling soon," Draco replied to his son's imprudent questioning. That would teach the little bugger to try and out wit Draco Malfoy.

Before Scorpius could reply, the solicitor stepped in and reminded the Malfoys of his prescence. "Are we ready here? I do have other appointments today," the solicitor trailed off as three icy glares turned toward him.

"By all means, Mr. Crenshaw, continue. We wouldn't want to keep you from any of your appointments," Draco replied tersely, glaring at the man who dared interrupt his family.

The solicitor tapped his wand on a piece of parchment on the desk three times, revealing three different letters. One was to be read aloud and the other two were addressed to Draco and Scorpius, who would read his on his 25 birthday.

Draco opened his letter after it was handed to him and scanned the contents, paling as he read the words his mother had written. His eyes stopped at one paragraph and he read it through several times as realization dawned on him. Without another word, he grabbed a handful of floo powder. Throwing it into the fireplace, he shouted, "Harry Potter's office."

The three other people in the room stared dumbfounded at Draco's strange exit.

"What was that about?" Astoria murmured to her self.

X X X X X X X X

Harry Potter's Office

"Potter!" Draco yelled as he came tumbling through the floo. Normally, one would have floo into the Ministry atrium but because Draco was a former Death Eater who had helped put away other death eaters at the end of the war, he was allowed entrance straight into Harry 's office if the need arose.

The bespectacled man looked up from his desk at the interruption.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, looking at the frazzled blond man.

Draco didn't offer an explanation but rather handed Harry the letter. "Will you please explain this to me?" Draco demanded.

Harry quickly scanned the contents of the letter and took a deep breath. "You better sit down, Malfoy. It's a long story."

Draco complied and Harry began the tale of how Narcissa had convinced him to bond his daughter to Scorpius.

Sighing, Draco stated, "Well, this is an utter inconvenience."

Ever the tortured hero, Harry muttered, "I would do anything to undo it."

"Yes, well that can't happen now, can it Potter?" Draco snapped, "but I was talking about the fact the Scorpius is in love with a girl and plans on asking her to marry him soon."

Harry swore as reality set in. He had been living in a dream world where neither Scorpius and Lily were attached to someone and they fell in love at Hogwarts living happily ever after.

"You know what will happen if he does marry this girl, right?" Harry asked.

Realization dawned on Draco as to the consequences of Harry's actions. Without thinking, Draco's right fist slammed into Harry's nose with a satisfying crunch.

"Shit, Malfoy!" Harry yelled as his hand went to feel his nose to see if it was broken, blood pouring out.

It dawned on Draco that he had acted rashly and that it might not have been the best idea to punch the Head of the Auror Department. Reaching for his wand, Draco pointed it at Harry's nose and said, "episky."

With another satisfying crunch, Harry's nose moved back into place.

"Sorry about that, Potter," Draco smirked, not really sorry but rather conceding to society standards that one should apologize for acts of physical violence.

"I deserved that punch but you could have been a bit more gentle with the spell," Harry shrugged.

Indifferently, Draco sighed and sat back down in the chair in front of Harry's desk. "So what are we going to do about this, Potter?"

Harry looked up at the ceiling, trying to come up with some kind of plan that would help get out of this situation.

"So, Scorpius has a girlfriend. Can you tell me more about her?" Harry asked, leaning back in his chair. He was familiar with Scorpius Malfoy, seeing as how he was Albus' best friend. Scorpius had spent a good amount of time at the Potter home over the years. Harry approved of the boy and knew he would make a good match for his youngest child. The problem was that when Scorpius came over, Lily was nowhere to be found. It was as if she was hiding from him but no Potter knew why and Lily wasn't privy to share that information.

"She's beautiful, soft spoken, and demure. Sorted into Gryffindor and in the same year as your daughter. I like her but I feel as if she is putting on a front. Albus has written owls with his concerns about the sincerity of her feelings," Draco said, watching Harry's eyes widen at the mention of his son.

"Should we call Albus to see what he thinks we should do?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head, "He will only wonder what is going on and if Scorpius ever finds out we are interfering in his life like this, and he'll hate us. I'd rather not involve Albus in this."

Consenting with the statement, Harry tried to come at the problem from another angle. "What did Albus say the witch was after?"

"The Malfoy fortune," Draco trailed off as an idea formed in his mind. "Do you think we can pay her off?"

"You would pay off the girlfriend your son loves?" Harry asked, completely floored by this statement.

"Hell no, Potter. I didn't get myself into this mess. You are going to pay the witch off. I want nothing to get back to Scorpius about my involvement in this. It's your daughter he has to marry so you are going to figure out the pay off," Draco replied, standing up to leave.

"Are you serious? You have to help me with this," Harry pleaded to his former enemy.

Draco just sneered at him. "Not a chance, Potter. I think this is perfect payback for agreeing to sign my son's life away. And since you are so good at making contracts, make one with Samantha Finnegan. I expect results by the end of the week."

Samantha was the daughter of Seamus and Lavender Finnegan, two of Harry's old friends. This deed was going to be the death of him but what he knew from Lavender, she always wanted to marry a rich, handsome bloke but then Seamus knocked her up and married her. She had moved from rich wizard to rich wizard in Hogwarts so Harry had a good idea that her daughter would take his money and flee.

Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths to come up with the words to transcribe the words for the worst letter he had ever written.

_Samantha,_

_Let me be frank. I want you to break up with Scorpius Malfoy and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are never in his life again. To make this separation a little easier, I am going to offer you the sum of 1 million galleons. Take it and run. If I ever see you with him again, there will be hell to pay._

_Signed, _

_Someone who is always watching. _

Before he could think about his actions, Harry gave the letter to an anonymous owl and put an untraceable spell on it. Now all he had to do was wait.

Needless to say, he wasn't disappointed when not even 20 minutes later, a response showed up.

And then Harry Potter paid off the witch.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Scorpius sat in shock on the couch in his apartment. Albus wasn't home yet and Samantha had just stopped by with some news. Apparently, Scorpius wasn't quite good enough for her and she had found someone else who knew how to take care of her needs for her.

He didn't know what to do.

He had been planning on marrying this girl who tossed him away so easily.

What did that say about him?

Was he a chump who could get played again?

No, he made a vow right there on the couch that he would never get played again. He was never going to offer his heart again.

He had his business.

That would be enough love for him.

Scorpius Malfoy hardened his heart so that no woman would ever be able to break down his walls again.

**AN: So here is what Scorpius has been up to in the past 14 years. Next chapter, we'll have Lily's story. The good news is that chapter is almost half way done so it should be posted relatively soon.**

**Leave me some reviews and let me know what you think about this chapter.**

**Also! I am looking for a beta reader/idea bouncer offer for this story! Please send me a PM if you are interested!  
**


	3. Story up for ADOPTION

**I am putting this story up for adoption. I no longer want/have any interest in continuing this plot. If you want to adopt the story, please send me a pm with the following: **

**ideas you have for continuing the story.**

**A link to the best story you have written.**

**If chosen, I will send you the complete story file of everything I have written. **

**Sincerely, **

**Bcain17**


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